
A friend asked me this question on the ceasefire in Gaza.
Below is the question and my answer
Binu, do you think Netanyahu planned everything in such a way that Biden would be a lame duck during the worst phase and all wrapped up by the time Trump takes over. An indirect way of discrediting Biden and Harris and helping Trump in the elections?
No. I don’t think so.
Biden was never a lame-duck president. Just one phone call from the Oval Office would have stopped the genocide in Gaza. Biden/Harris did not make that phone call. Why?
- Biden/Harris are beholden to the military-industrial complex which wants more and more wars and to the Zionist lobby in the USA which contributes a significant portion of the campaign fund and is also dependent on the Zionist Jewish/Christian Zionist votes
- The Israel tail was wagging the American dog since Lyndon B Johnson. Every president since then has been beholden to the above-mentioned lobbies. Biden/Harris was no different.
- Biden/Harris time and again declared their ‘ironclad’ support for Israel. What’s the point in discrediting those who extended support no matter what you do in Gaza and elsewhere?
- A Harris Presidency would have suited Israel better and I think they could have gone on with their project in Gaza/West Bank/Lebanon/Syria….So, there is no question of the Israel lobby helping Trump win.
How did a Trump victory pave the way for this ceasefire?
- On January 8, Trump made a statement ” ‘All hell will break out’ if Gaza hostages aren’t released before his inauguration”
- The very next day, Trump shared on his ‘Truth Social’ a video by economist Jeffrey Sachs in which he called Netanyahu a “deep, dark son of a bitch”. In the video, Prof. Sachs blamed Israel and especially Netanyahu for all the wars in the Middle East including Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Lebanon and intending to start a war on Iran. By sharing this video Trump conveyed what will be his Middle East (West Asia) policy and also his attitude towards Netanyahu and Israel would be. I think Netanyahu got the message
- Netanyahu was not invited to the Trump inauguration
- On January 12 Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, on a Shabbat day for Jews, which was very unusual! This gave the message, Israel tail is no longer going to wag the American dog!
- Trump is a Washington outsider and he’s not beholden to the Military Industrial complex or the neocons. He can take decisions on his own.
- Trump is also a businessman and a pragmatist.
- Trump wants a Middle East ( West Asia) where he can do ‘business’. The Arab countries are gravitating towards China which Trump can not allow with his ‘MAGA’ ambitions.
- UAE has joined BRICS. Saudi Arabia intends to join the BRICS and other oil-rich Arab countries may follow suit. Trump can not allow that since it can sabotage US Dollar’s hegemony.
- Reigning in Israel was in the best interest of Trump’s ‘MAGA’ ambitions. That’s why the phone call from ‘President-elect’ Donald Trump reached Netanyahu even before he took charge of the Oval Office.
- Most of all, Trump didn’t have to seek another term
- No. In no way Netanyahu helped a Trump victory.
Binu Mathew is the Editor of Countercurrents.org. He can be reached at [email protected]